The Indiana Pacers were in this same position last year, tied 1-1 with the Miami Heat and heading back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse with home-court advantage in their back pocket. They took a 2-1 series lead that time, before dropping the next three games to the eventual champs.

No matter how good the Pacers looked against the New York Knicks in the previous round and how close they were to winning Game 1, you probably didn’t see this coming.

The Heat’s worst game of the previous series was Game 1, after a similarly long layoff. And as easily as they got into the paint on Wednesday, the were never clicking on all cylinders offensively, committing too many careless turnovers and unable to get their 3-point shooters on track.

The Pacers, meanwhile, could have been deflated after the disappointment of Game 1. They could have been bitter after Frank Vogel took Roy Hibbert off the floor for the final two defensive possessions and after answering countless questions about that decision over the last 48 hours.

They could have got too wrapped up in the officiating after whistles early in the second quarter went the Heat’s way and helped the champs erase a double-digit Indiana lead. They could have watched LeBron James drain buzzer beaters and block seven footers and thought that there was no beating the best player in the world when he’s having one of those nights.

They could have seen the ball in James hands with the game on the line on two straight possessions in the final minute and wondered how they could stop him.

The Pacers overcame all of that, answered every Heat run, hit big shots, and stopped James on both of those possessions to walk away with a much-earned victory.

“They had great plays, but we didn’t waiver,” Hibbert said. “A lot of times, teams just start buckling, and we’ve been through the wringer before. We’re young guys, but we know what we’re doing.”

This was a complete performance. Offensively, the Pacers scored 97 points on just 86 possessions. The Heat’s aggressive defense kept them from getting into their offense quickly or consistently, David West struggled from the field, and they got basically nothing from their bench. But they found ways to score.

Paul George (22 points, six assists, 9-for-16 shooting) ascended one more step toward stardom, consistently beating his man off the dribble, throwing down the dunk of the playoffs on Chris Andersen, and hit a plethora of big shots. Roy Hibbert scored a career-playoff-high 29 points, using his size in the post and on the glass, while also showing some finesse as a roll man. And George Hill (18 points, 6-for-8 shooting) was aggressive as the ball-handler on those pick-and-rolls, something the Pacers desperately needed.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will tell you that a playoff series comes down to which team can best impose its own identity on its opponent. And the Pacers remained true to their style, playing physical both offensively (getting to the line 32 times) and defensively.

The Heat were somewhat efficient (93 points on 87 possessions), but for the second straight game, looked nothing like the No. 1 offense in the league. James scored 36 points, but didn’t get much help and he coughed the ball up on those two spotlight possessions with the Pacers leading 95-93.

This time, Hibbert was on the floor. While Vogel had his reasoning for sitting the 7-foot-2 center at the end of Game 1, he might never make that same decision.

“As soon as we came to the locker room the other night,” Vogel said, “I told the team we tried that way, but he’s going to be in there.”

On the first play, West (who was the main culprit in a lot of the Pacers’ Game 1 defensive breakdowns) stopped James’ momentum and held his containment until George was able to recover. And when James tried to get the ball back to Ray Allen, West got his hands on the pass.

On the second play, George fought through Mario Chalmers‘ screen, basically needing no help from his teammates and stopping James in his tracks before he could get to the basket. And when James saw Allen open on the other side of the floor, West again stepped in front of the pass.

“We stayed in front of him,” George said. “We knew that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen on a tough shot, a contested shot. Everybody was in the gap ready to help each other. That is how we play defense.”

And that was how they played defense most of the night. Rather make an adjustment to the way the Heat was running it pick-and-rolls in Game 1, the Pacers knew they just had to defend better. And they did just that, containing those pick-and-rolls while not letting Miami’s shooters get free.

This is why the Pacers were the No. 1 defensive team in the league. And this is why this year feels different. Until they lose four times, the Heat are still the best team in the league. But they have a serious challenge on their hands, and the Pacers will fly home on Saturday knowing that they’ve been the better team over the first two games.

“This whole team is showing great desire and great heart and great belief,” Vogel said. “They believe we can win this series.”

111 Comments

Wade will always be WADE.. even thuogh they are over shadowed by KING JAMES..it is alryt for them i think becuase if no JAMES in the HEAT, they can ever go to the 2nd round.. Wade knows that BATMAN (JAMES) is a big plus on his TEam.. and he is ready to help his team to be better and better every single game.. Let’s Go HEAT! let’s finish this series and FACE THE SPURS! God will always be there for us.. trust each other,play hard, make some great play and focus!YEAHHHH!!!!

……THIS SERIES AND MATCH UP IS GREAT..THE BEST SERIES I’VE SEEN SO FAR IN THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR…..SO MUCH TALENT AND RESPECT ON BOTH TEAMS…..IF YOU ARE A TRUE BASKETBALL FAN U MUST AMIT BOTH TEAMS ARE GIVING THERE FANS SOMETHING TO TALK/BRAG ABOUT….GO MIAMI…..PACERS YOU HAVE A GREAT TEAM AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO WIN BY BEATING MY HEAT…THEN CONGRAT’S GOES OUT TO U….GO TO THE FINALS AND REPRESENT THE EAST….BEAT THE WEST ESPECIALLY THE SPURS….WIN OR LOSS MIAM YOUR STILL MY #1 TEAM

Thank you SWEETNESS.. we are still here for miami, hoping and praying for them wo win atleast 1 more game in pacers home to be tied the series.. let’s go HEAT! you can do it..play hard, focus and trust each other.pray to GOD and always be humble in every ways.. nice win for the pacers but it is still 3 more win for both team… we still believe that the HEAT will climb to the NBA FINALS.. Let’s Go HEAT!.. JAMES, WADE and BOSH.. Let’s GO!

Too many stars in a team, too afraid to lose, getting a bit greedy on winning championships. And a problem is next season when Rose gets healthy. Probably heats last run. Pacers are way better. Pacer are a better match-up for the Spurs. Go Pacers win it in 6.

Beofre the series started, Heat fans were asying Queen James is the man, he will crush the Pacers, he’s the best player in the NBA. But now, they’re saying, “where’s Wade?, the bench needs to step up, Lebron needs help!”, yeah yer right. Now that the Pacers are outplaying them, they make Queen James become human again. The truth is, Queen James is just overrated. Promoted and overexposed by writers like Sekou Smith. Plain and simple overrated.

Are you stupid? Lebron is averaging 33ppg, 6.5 apg, 9 rpg, 1.5 spg, 2 bpg, 59 fg%, and 38 3pt%, for this series. he is destroying the Pacers. And no one said he’s ever do it alone, if you listen to them then you’re just as stupid as they are fro listening to them. And MJ is overrated, Way too promoted when playing. only reason he won was because Pippen, Rodman, and Jackson as coach. because he had players that stepped up, so MJ is way overrated.

I’m actually a Bulls fan but I called the East Finals Miami and Indiana and I picked Indiana to win the series because of the matchups Miami has Lebron but no true center Indiana has a true center and depth and the ability to run the floor with Miami right now Miami look like another Cleveland team I say Indiana in 6

I’m convinced the Heat will win this series, but the Heat have no answer for Hibbett. I don’t know, after game 2, I’m swaying over to the Indiana Pacers. I’m an OKC fan so I really don’t care either way. But this series is very interesting to watch. I love watching the Heat lose!!!! It seems far fetched, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see the underdogs make it to the finals? Pacers vs Grizzlies? Spurs are taking it swiftly. Oh well, doesn’t matter-at least 2 of these 4 teams won’t even make it this far next year. Watch out for the Thunder!

Game 2 was fun to watch, LeBron definitely choked with the turnovers. If you really want to call it choking when someone just throws their hands up and happens to deflect the ball like West did. Anyways, I liked it and expect this to be a 6 game series. Miami still hasn’t played their best while Indiana has had 2 players basically have career nights against Miami and barely got past them. Hibbert scored a career high 30 points with 10 rebounds. Paul George had a huge game in game 1 and made that 3 pointer and those 3 free throws that he was fouled on before the shot! It’s exciting, but Indiana has basically already played to their best, but Miami’s bench is doing nothing compared to the last series, or the regular season. their 3-pint % is way down from a regular season 39% average. Miami can do better and Indiana can’t keep counting on huge nights and career nights to win. But this will still be very exciting!

I kept saying Lebron would have to score at least 40 for them to win. Funny he was 5 Pts away from that and Miami 5pts Away from winning. Heat put up a major battle though, game looked like a blowout was starting. On the bright side I get to laugh at the people who seriously thought Indiana wouldn’t win a single game in this series, Miami is great but they’re not untouchable

Whoever wins this series is going to win the NBA CHAMPIONSHIP. This is a different (and better) pacers team. Indian needs a t least one game at home (preferably 2) to win this series. I said at the start the PACERS IN SIX. I will continue to hold to that prediction.

im very amazed by indy…give them huge props for what they did on the heats home court…they could easily be up 2-0 right now. hibberts a beast..this is why havin g a big man helps…also big props to lebron for tryin to win it be himself..which he could have , but those last two turnovers..ouch…im almost certain that heat pull out of game 3 in indy…and dwade HAS to step up big time..ray and battier gotta start knockin threes..i felt at times the ball and the bodies were constantly moving like they normally do for the heat…its still intersting tho..heat have been playin mostly indy ball and are still in it..if they can get miaim heat basketball goin its truly over for indy..the question now remains..can they do so?

Like I commented on article after game 1, we’ll see the real Pacers & Heat in game 2. Both teams upped a notch, & clearly played even more intense, physical ball. So the Heat fans can forget the sweep.

For Pacers, it comes down to can they continue to have their starters play 40+ minutes every game with the same intensity on both ends of the floor. Clearly, they looked a bit weary in middle to late 4th quarter on offense, much like the case in game 1 in late 3rd & 4th quarter. Both games they failed to hold leads on the Heat, & needed great individual plays & superb team D & some bail out shots to keep them afloat.

Guys like Hanborough, Stevenson & Augustin are keys. Stevenson, also killed the game with 2 bad possessions. If he plays smartly & under control while maintaining the aggression, the Pacers still hv a good chance to play with the Heat.

The Heat’s big 3 did play heavy minutes but got some bodies to take some of the brunt. Also they missed many free throws, though outrebounded by 7 & shot 6 less free throw.

LBJ is so good that, it’s likely that he’ll start to clamp down on George. When that happens, Pacers really need West, Hill & the bench to step up. I’d look for that in game 3.

Pacers did very well on the whole in managing the fouls. They really moved their feet so the refs couldn’t call fouls easily on them. That’s how the key guys were kept on the floor. There were still fouls & technicals that were questionnable but Pacers seemed to hv better poise this yr.

If Pacers’ bench respond better in game 3, while keeping the same suffocating D, they hv a great shot to win it.

What is that saying you bangwagon Heat fans always say? “Haters gonna hate.” LMAO Hate on that posterization of the Birdman. Hate on Lebron not being as clutch as you think. Hate on Wade for being irrelevant this entire season. Hate on Bosh for looking like a snapping turtle. Dirty players deserve nothing. Will be so glad when the commisioner is gone. What will Lebron do without his sugar daddy?

Heat’s misery will continue in front of Pacers for the following reasons if they won’t correct themselves or rise up to the occasion:

1. Too many missed free throws, easy lay-ups and poor perimeter shooting by Heat players. You can’t afford to have such sloppy performance against a tough defensive team (and also offensive as well) like Pacers.

2. Heat is now all about LBJ. I think Heat won the first game and was close to the second game only because of LBJ. I was very surprised to see disappointing performance from Chris Busch and Dwayne Wade. Perhaps, they didn’t have the ability to match up with the youthful and powerful performance of Pacers. This Pacers is different. In the last two matches, I witnessed a super-star in the making-Paul George (having combined quality of LBJ and KD). In addition, I saw Hibbert, West, Hill and Stephenson doing a lot of damages to Heat by virtue of their strong defense and sharp and almost flawless offense.

3. Pacers appeared to be confident and hungry to prove themselves whereas Heat looked like a group of tired and uncertain bunch of players relying on LBJ to rescue them. I am a Heat fan and I am very disappointed.

4. LBJ’s current position is just like his position that he had with Cleveland CAVS – he is the center-piece and is expected to make big games every night to pull his team. But one man can’t win a series against formidable opponent.

4. The way this series went so far, my prediction is Pacers in 6. I don’t believe that I would have to make such a prediction.

The thing that baffles me the most is: not the lack of respect given to an obvious better TEAM in the Pacers, or the DELUSIONAL thoughts of bandwagon heat fans (Not Real Heat Fans) THE BANDWAGONERS to think this series would be over after one or two games, but all the nonsense comments that Pacers heard in the NY series, well NY just has to have more help, or they haven’t heated up yet, just wait till we are clicking on all cylinders! What the hell are you all talking about, Do you think this is a fluke thing? Why do you think Indiana was the BEST defensive team in the league?????? It just makes me spin my head in disbelief!!!! Your bench and Role players ARE NOT I REPEAT NOT going to get going because INDIANA is #1 IN DEFENSE!!!! You cant STOP LeBron, given.. But you can make him have to beat you all by himself, just like we did with MELO, and you see how well that turned out!! Stop searching for answers that aren’t there and just accept unless LBJ scores 93 points every game, this just isn’t your year!!

No one wants to accept the greatness Indiana has become. Especially now that they’re facing the heat. But they aren’t Gods, they’re just the next challenge the Pacers have to face if they want to make a title run. It’s a great challenge, one they could potentially fail but regardless of the outcome people are going to know after this season the Indiana pacers are not some fluke team

That was unexpected, I blame James, he messed up at the last plays of the game,he lost the ball twice after 2 timeouts in the last minute of the game, as great as he was the whole game he messed up in the most crucial time and his team lost cause of his 2 last turnovers, he is the best player on the team by far and his team trusts him the ball at the last seconds, i dont care how many points Bosh or wade scored,they can do better for sure BUT, the point is that James clutch turnovers caused his team the game.

I accept that Lebron made a mess of the last two Heat possessions. He should have done better, but i also feel that Heat would have trailed by many more points at that stage had Lebron not played as well as he did. DWade has to step up his game. He looks complacent and doesn’t seem to have same hunger as James. He scores just 6 in first half, good 8 points in 3rd Q and none in the 4th. He took a lazy, careless shot with much time on the clock in the final minutes of the game and didn’t make it. If he plays the same way, i honestly feel that Heat cannot dominate a well balanced and Talented Pacers team. Pacers are plays very very well on Defense and well enough on Offense (atleast 4 efficient scorers of 5 starters). Respect for this resilient, focussed, and championship hungry Pacers team. I wish Heat can play with same agrressiveness and hunger as the Pacers.

I am a Heat fan, but a better team is supposed to win the series and then the championship. Pacers, for sure, played better in the first two games.

I don’t get it why most Heat fans don’t give the Pacers their due respect. Lebron, Wade Bosh and all of the Heat crew give them their utmost respect and never dare to underestimate them. This is a 7 game series. A series between two hungry teams isn’t decided in 4 or 5 or even 6 games! The Pacers are giving it their all! Don’t be so overconfident!

Its because the heat fans can’t accept anything that rivals their team. I mentioned in in another blog this series won’t be a sweep and some guy got on my case for it. Indiana could actually win this series, not saying they will but that’s a reality Miami fans may have to accept, of course they’ll blame the refs after telling Miami haters to stop doing so lol

HA HA HA!! The “team that Larry built” showed their stuff last night and it was too much for the diva’s in Miami. The best part about that game was the look of sheer confusion on the faces of the Miami pretender fans when they realized they weren’t going to get bailed out this time. It was “OMG…what do you mean we’re going to lose??!!” look. It was priceless. Some of them even stayed for the final buzzer, unlike most games when they run for the exits after all the media photo opps are over LOL.

Let’s be realistic – the only people cheering for Miami are the local fans and bandwagoneers ha ha. The rest of the fans in the league are hoping they get there butts kicked.

There are A LOT of very happy fans in the NBA world today…and a real small group of upset “fans” LOL Don’t worry…I hear those white tshirts make for a good crying towel

The Pacers are clearly the better team right now, but they don’t sell nearly as many jerseys or gym shoes as Lebron or DWade, so look for the refs to give the Heat a lot of help as the series unfolds…It’s a shame the refs won’t just let them play ball, but Hey, This is not basketball, it’s show biz…….Just like Barkley said at halftime last night, You know the League wants the Heat in the finals……

Yeah, exactly! It’s like people don’t realize that the reason Miami hasn’t played their best is Indiana’s defense! Great teams keep their opponents from playing their best. That’s how they win so much. Duh!!

Ive said this before, the pacers are in a great position to win this series if Roy Hibbert stepped his game up. The heat have no answer for Hibbert, but we’ll see if he can consistently continue to play this well.

Finally, a team that’s not afraid to attack the Heat, and quite effectively I might add. I’m not an Indiana fan but I’m loving how these young guys are playing! If they take both home games, it’s over for Miami who had to go into OT to win the 1st game by 1 point. GO PACERS!

I think it will be pacers and spurs in the finals. Spurs will win against grizzlies in 6, while miami and pacers will go to 7 games and several of those games will be overtime decided. It doesnt look like miamis bench is in it, and spoelstra not letting miller and lewis play is a bad choice. With ray and shane missing pretty much every shot… what do you have to lose, let the other players play more time. The only consistent player of the bench is birdman.

I think wade was counting on lebron to do all the job. Now he is just sitting the back seat to get one more title, He doesnt care about it anymore, thats why he wanted lebron to sign with miami. All the injury talk, well kobe was injured a lot too but still managed to score 20+ points. No HEART, i look at him like Rose.

This is a series. This isn’t some team that the Heat can just steamroll off the hard court. The Pacers ain’t the Bulls. Whoever said that the Bulls were tougher than the Pacers were naive and delusional. I’ve been a Heat fan since Wade was the superstar of this team and I’ve been irritated by some casual Heat fans that think every opponent is just like the Bucks that give the Heat a sure win in a silver platter.

The Pacers showed last season they could bring it. It’s time for the Heat to compose themselves and beat them back. The Pacers are tougher than the Bulls, even if you include the couch-warmer DRose.

As a Pacers fan to a Heat fan, I appreciate the respect you’re giving my team. You’re a true Heat fan (not one of those “bandwaggoners”), and I’ve been a Pacers fan since ’96-’97 (when they didn’t even make the playoffs). It’s a great series, and it’ll continue to be. If you guys advance to the Finals, I think it will only be because you had more home games than us. As the first two games have indicated, I believe we’re relatively even teams at this point in the season. No, we didn’t have a 27-game win streak. Yes, we lost twice as many games as you during the regular season. But right now, there’s no clear favorite when you watch the two teams on the court and ignore the “Heat hype” from the national sports media. May the better team win!!

Only Labron, Bosh and Wade are playing hard. The rest of the team are playing bad. Where as all Pacers starters played good in game 2 and scored more than 10 points.
Heat needs contribution from all its players.
Also I agree, J. Anthony is a better choice than Haslem to start the game. He is better defender against Pacers big men.

Heat needs contribution from all his players. Haslem, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Chalmers and Cole. They have really played bad in this series missing lots of shots.
Pacers players are all playing good. Miami players must step up in game 3, 4 and 5. They are a better team.
At the same time, Heat Coach Spo is better to start the game with 2 big men (Bosh and Anthony) and then bring Anderson and Haslem from the bench. Give some more minutes to Miller and use Lewis too.

For Miami, everything is going to come down to their bench, especially when Wade is only scoring 14 points. Birdman and Ray combining only for 13 points last night… No matter how well Lebron performs, if he has to be in Cleveland mode he won’t win anything like when he was in Cleveland. He needs some help.
Bosh also has to man up and get those rebounds, hes had only 8 through these two games…
Miami Fan

Miami hasn’t played well these playoffs. It’s not Lebron, I think he’s playing well, but Bosh and Wade are inconsistent, to put it mildly. If they hadn’t gotten a little push, they might not have gotten past what was left of the bulls.
Indiana was clearly the better team these first two games. They have improved individually, and as a team, since last year. They’ve become a very good team and I enjoy watching them.
By the way, if the refereeing was even remotely decent, they would be easily up 2-0 at this now.
Both teams can play even better, I think. Let’s just hope for better officiating from now on, and enjoy the rest of the series.

If the calls were even? Indiana has gotten more free throws in both games than the Heat! if they took the same amount of free throws, Miami would be up 2-0 while winning both games probably by at least 5.

Dwyane Wade needs to step up his game, LeBron is playing insane but he needs some help from this guy. I know he deals with injuries but he doesnt have the attitude back in 2006 when they got the first title.

Suspend a player running straight down court when the other guy sees him and jumps in his path….hmmm. Wade did commit a foul by hurdling over Stephenson, but suspension, really? I guess you just want that comfort of knowing Wade won’t be in game for the next one.

Yea, they called those “fouls” technical. Young on lebron?? Did he even touch him other than slap the ball out of lebron’s hand afterwards? Brian Shaw asked for it. Pyscho T’s one was merely a push after shot, borderland T. And they never called David west elbow on Chamlers, or D-wade’s track run on Lance.

It was such a great game. George and Lebron going 1up each other. Paul George, superstar in the making.

Where is he going to go? the only answer is back to Cleveland. They have some nice young talent. but I wonder after all the animosity of the Cavs fans if he will want to go back there.The cavs are loading up on good young talent. Would be a perfect fit lor lebron

This is gonna be a long, physical series…look for Lebron to have one of those 35 plus points, 15 rebound plus games in game 3 after his choke here. Paul George will be a super star and all will know his name regardless of who wins the series. Also, Wade elbowed Stephenson and got away with it, World Peace did that and got suspended. Just not right!

Wade elbowed Stephenson? He was running down the court and Lance got it in his way. Yes, he could have avoided him better, but is someone got away with something dirty, it was West with his elbow at Chalmer’s shoulder.

If anything, I feel very confident about Miami. The bench has not played well at all. At some point Ray Allen and Battier have to make some shots. They have two big men download, but the points in the paint were even 40-40 and in the first game Miami outscored them in the paint..So the size advantage is not a big deal. Also, they just took 7 more rebounds the Miami. I think that Miami knows is just a game and they can win in the road. Nothing to worry about.

It’s funny because Heat fans were predicting a sweep. One even said that the Heat don’t have to play it’s starters to beat the Pacers. They basically underestimated the Pacers. Well, don’t look now, a sweep has not happened and it seems the Pacers are not at all intimidated by the Heat. The tables have turned and the Pacers have become the aggressor. The series is not over yet, but I’m pretty sure, the Pacers have earned the Heat’s respect, not only from it’s players, but also from its fans.